"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Luke 24:5
Hallelujah! One of the most powerful verses in the Bible speaks directly to those who would challenge the divinity of Christ and His resurrection. Let us not forget that when it comes to Christianity you have but two choices, you either believe the Bible as an infallible authoritative source, or you are making it up as you go along. It really is that simple.
The Bible says in the last days there will be deceivers and many people will fall away from the faith. Many will be led away from the faith. One such way is through a process of "enlightenment". A benign enough term but no more accurate than the Healthy Forests Initiative moniker was. Enlightenment is a fancy way of saying that man has figured out all man needs to know. As I have said in previous articles, I have seen what man has wrought upon this planet, I'll take God.
1) Jesus was sent to earth by God, period. This notion that he was "divinely" human, yet not sent by God is contradictory.
2) Jesus appeared to his followers for 40 days after his death, in reality, not a "state of consciousness." Jesus did not appear as a dream or a mirage. He allowed Thomas to place his finger into the stigmata.
3) While there was plenty of judgment in the Old Testament, to claim the message of Christ was 100% altruistic is to dismiss portions of His own words. It is Christ that talked about separating the sheep from the goats. It is Christ that talked about tying a millstone around your neck and throwing yourself in the sea if you were to lead children astray. In fact it was Jesus Himself that said in Matthew 25:
"41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.""
Jesus brought a message of unconditional love and forgiveness but to remove His warnings to mankind is to lead people astray.
Perhaps the most telling line of Dr. Roland's article is the following line:
""and the humanizing of Jesus is an essential step in the process towards our taking responsibility for that same love deepest within each one of us."
Wrong. The humanizing of Jesus is an essential step in undermining His Godhood. It is the essential step in marginalizing His redemptive work on the cross. It is the essential goal of the enemy to our souls, and he has been waging this attack upon the divinity of Christ ever since Jesus took our sins upon the cross and paid our debt. By reducing the Son of God to you or I, to solely humanize Him, is to remove His power to save.
Jesus Christ was both human and God. He was sinless and led a perfect life. He went to the cross to redeem mankind and bore our sins to restore the relationship with God we lost with Adam. To attempt to "humanize" Him in order to "take responsibility" is to say that man knows better than God. That is the goal of humanism.
Dr. Roland says that his faith is not based on "the literal belief in the bible, the virgin birth and the resurrection stories." Then I would ask what it is based on? This is to say then that you accept portions of the Bible as absolute truth but dismiss the portions you don't like? I have far more respect for an atheist who at least dismisses the entire Bible. To cherry pick the parts you like and build a theology around it is certainly a man-based religion. Maybe it can make you feel better today. Maybe it can make you a better person, love your neighbors more and open your heart to this notion of "soul consciousness." But do not be deceived, it will have nothing to do with God or Christ. It will be devoid of the Word of God and without that, you are merely making it up as you go along. More importantly, it will have nothing to do with the kingdom of God and your salvation.
Dr. Roland has part of it right in that Christ may need to be saved from the church, which is composed of flawed men. Certainly there are some denominations who purport themselves to be Christian, but follow the Word of God as haphazardly as Dr. Roland appears to. In saving the Son of God from the church however, it seems the solution proposed is to pretend His words are meaningless. It seems the solution is to have man redefine Christ and what is worse, to minimize Him and His saving work. It is merely humanism run amok again, saying that man knows better. Trust me, man does not.
If you want the resurrection explained, read the Bible. Read the four Gospels and understand that they are not stories, but first hand accounts of the men who lived with Jesus. Read how he suffered and died on a cross for you an I. Read how while he was dying, he sought not revenge upon his attackers but rather asked God to forgive them for they know not what they do. Read how he was buried in a sealed tomb and three days later he rose from the dead and was resurrected. His resurrection is symbolic of the new life we all can have in Christ, if we simply have faith. Faith in Christ, not man. Christ does not need to be saved, He came to save us. The Bible says that in the last days many will be deceived. Many will fall away. Place not your faith in man, but in God.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Luke 24:5
